Drones laden with explosives kills three Colombian soldiers

Three soldiers have been killed in a drone attack in south-west Colombia, which authorities have blamed on a dissident rebel group.

The devices dropped explosives on members of Colombia’s navy and army, who were manning a checkpoint on the Naya River.

Four other members of the security forces were injured in the attack.

Drone attacks have become increasingly common in recent years in Colombia: in 2024, 115 such attacks were recorded in the country, most of them carried out by illegal armed groups.

In January, the government said it was putting a plan into place to prevent such attacks by beefing up its anti-drone technology, in order to better detect and “neutralise” drones.

The latest deadly attack happened near Buenaventura, a city on the Pacific coast which is a hotbed for drug trafficking.

Army officials gave the names of the three victims as Wilmar Rivas, Andrés Estrada and Dario Estrada.

Off-shoots of the Farc rebel group, which refused to sign a peace deal negotiated by the guerrilla group’s leaders in 2016, have a strong presence in the area.

The rivers in the region are often used to transport cocaine – the main source of income for illegal armed groups – and weapons.

Military officials said one of the groups under the command of a man known as Iván Mordisco was behind Tuesday’s drone attack.

Mordisco walked out of peace talks with the government in April 2024, and the dissident rebel factions he leads engage in criminal activities such as the extortion of farmers and landowners, illegal mining and cocaine trafficking.